Works from the gallery's archives have been brought to the fore for A Place To Call Home, an exhibition of local artists (past and present) who have captured homes of the Illawarra.

One such artist is Riste Andrievski of Cordeaux Heights who specialises in prints, etchings and photography.

He said the prints chosen for the exhibition were part of a series which took 20 years to complete due to previous commitments to full-time work.

"[It's] a series of portraits of an industrial migrant landscape," Mr Andrievski said.

"They draw on the migrant experience from my dad - and many others from a similar background - coming out to Australia in 1964 and settling in Cringila.

"I've been looking at the landscape and how it's impacted my life and ... documenting it visually and how i can communicate that story."

Some if the other artists on show include Frank Nowlan, John Bokor, Alice McKenzie, Nick Santoro and Christopher Zanko.

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Cultural historian Dr Joseph Davis said the exhibition showed the "real" Illawarra.

"The earliest artists we have in Australia were commissioned by incredibly wealthy people and they wanted their homes painted - and so in the early period of Australian art history you have lots of paintings of mansions," Dr Davis said.

"But what this exhibition does is it really [highlights] Wollongong was not quite that affluent a place ... hence you've got shacks, sheds, shelters, all sorts of vernacular architecture which really captures the spirit of Wollongong."

One of his favourite images of the exhibition is a painting of 1903 showing the great extent of what Tom Thumb Lagoon used to be, before the steelworks took over the area.

Both Dr Davis and Mr Andrievski will be part of art discussions at the gallery during the exhibitions showing, which runs until July 21.

For a full list of associated events, visit www.wollongongartgallery.com

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